Spanish judge releases HSBC whistleblower Herve Falciani on bail
A Spanish judge has released on bail Herve Falciani, a former HSBC computer analyst detained in Madrid at the request of Switzerland for leaking sensitive information alleging widespread tax evasion, a judicial source says.
The National Court judge on Thursday seized Falciani's passport and ordered the 46-year-old French-Italian national to appear before the court once a week while his extradition request was considered, the source added.
Earlier in the day, Switzerland's Justice Ministry submitted a formal request for Falciani's extradition from Spain.
"The Federal Office of Justice on April 5 transmitted a formal request for extradition via diplomatic channels," a spokesman said in an emailed statement.
Falciani, who worked for the Swiss branch of HSBC as a computer analyst, was detained in Madrid on Wednesday as he was on his way to a conference about the need to protect whistleblowers. He is the main figure behind the so-called “Swiss Leaks,” a series of information that was released in 2008 alleging that HSBC had helped clients evade millions of dollars in taxes.
A Swiss court had tried Falciani in absentia and sentenced him to five years in jail for aggravated industrial espionage.
Many know Falciani as “the man who terrifies the rich” as his leaked documents allegedly indicate that HSBC's Swiss private banking arm helped more than 120,000 clients hide 180.6 billion euros ($222 billion) from tax authorities.
Falciani reportedly obtained the data after he began working at HSBC's offices in Geneva in 2006. He was then accused of unsuccessfully trying to sell the information in Lebanon in 2007 before he passed on the information to tax authorities in France.
The 46-year-old was once arrested in Spain in July 2012 but the Spanish National Court refused his extradition and even criticized the HSBC’s "seriously irregular" behavior. The court said at the time that Falciani’s collaboration “allowed information to be handed over to various authorities in various states including Spain.”
Switzerland's fresh arrest warrant, issued last month, comes as two prominent Catalan separatist leaders have fled to Switzerland to avoid legal proceedings over their role in the region's independence drive.
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